Editors’ Collection

Our Best Birthday Cakes

Celebrate your favorite person with these delicious birthday cakes from NYT Cooking.

Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.

Recipes

Classic White Cake
Yossy Arefi
247 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
247
2 hours 20 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
1182 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,182
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Rainbow Sprinkle Cake
Julia Moskin, Candace Nelson
4438 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,438
1½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Layer Cake
Lisa Donovan
195 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
195
2 hours 40 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Carrot Cake
Dorie Greenspan
11262 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
11,262
1 hour 30 minutes, plus at least 15 minutes' refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake
Eric Kim
404 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
404
1 hour 20 minutes, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Strawberry Lemonade Cake
Yossy Arefi
1067 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,067
90 minutes, plus 50 minutes cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Princess Cake
Nicola Lamb
344 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
344
About 3 hours
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Easy Chocolate Cake
Yossy Arefi
1536 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,536
About 2 hours
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Chocolate-Chocolate Birthday Cake
Dorie Greenspan
3371 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,371
Baking and cooling: About 3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Rum-Raisin Carrot Cake
Vaughn Vreeland
258 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
258
2¼ hours
or to save this recipe.
Baked Alaska
Lidey Heuck
134 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
134
About 7 hours 20 minutes
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Southern Red Velvet Cake
Kim Severson, Adams Extract Company
3564 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
3,564
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Birthday Cake Butter Mochi
Sara Bonisteel, Sheldon Simeon
900 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
900
1 hour 15 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Vanilla Cake
Lidey Heuck
460 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
460
1 hour and 50 minutes
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Strawberry and Cream Layer Cake
Claire Saffitz
2441 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,441
2 hours
or to save this recipe.
Coconut Layer Cake
Melissa Clark, Larissa Raphael
1738 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
1,738
2 hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Yellow Sheet Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Erin Jeanne McDowell
2131 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,131
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Gluten-Free Yellow Sheet Cake
Brian Levy
95 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
95
1 hour 10 minutes, plus cooling (or 3 hours with frosting)
or to save this recipe.
Southern Caramel Cake
Millie Peartree
2002 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,002
50 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Classic Birthday Cake
Alison Roman
2298 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,298
About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Hawaiian Guava Cake
Kiera Wright-Ruiz, Alana Kysar
1412 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,412
50 minutes, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lemon Cupcakes
Samantha Seneviratne
258 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
258
40 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Cardamom Cream Cake
Melissa Clark
971 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
971
2½ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Black Forest Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
1095 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,095
1½ hours, plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Seis Leches Cake
Melissa Clark
1824 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,824
1 hour, plus cooling and chilling
or to save this recipe.
Blackout Cake
The New York Times, Ebinger’s
2290 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,290
3 hours plus chilling
or to save this recipe.
Sponge Cake
Claire Saffitz
2145 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
2,145
50 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Ambrosia Cake
Melissa Clark
501 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
501
3 hours
or to save this recipe.
Hummingbird Cake
Vallery Lomas
1793 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,793
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Tres Leches Cake
Margaux Laskey, Odette Williams
726 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
726
50 minutes, plus soaking
or to save this recipe.
Magnolia Bakery’s Cupcakes
Susan Campos
3496 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
3,496
About 45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Cranberry-Lemon Stripe Cake
Tejal Rao, Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh
561 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
561
2 hours, plus baking/cooling
or to save this recipe.
Devil's Food White-Out Cake
Emily Weinstein, Dorie Greenspan
294 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
294
1 hour 40 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
or to save this recipe.
Milk and Honey Cake
Melissa Clark, Odette Williams
1364 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,364
1¼ hours, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Ruth Reichl’s Giant Chocolate Cake
Kim Severson, Ruth Reichl
2286 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
2,286
1½ hours
or to save this recipe.
Red Velvet Cupcakes
Millie Peartree
670 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
670
45 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Church Cake
Lisa Donovan
1908 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,908
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Genevieve Ko
4603 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
4,603
1 hour 15 minutes
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Peach-Raspberry Ice Cream Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
334 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
334
1 hour, plus 8 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Hazelnut Crepe Cake
Samantha Seneviratne
465 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
465
2 hours, plus 4 hours' chilling
or to save this recipe.
Lisbon Chocolate Cake
Dorie Greenspan
5077 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
5,077
About 1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Spumoni Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
870 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
870
50 minutes, plus 6 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate Chestnut Cake
David Tanis, Alice Medrich
485 ratings with an average rating of 5 out of 5 stars
485
1 hour
or to save this recipe.
Birthday Baked Alaska
Dorie Greenspan, Zoë François
682 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
682
About 1 hour, plus at least 7 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Chocolate-Cherry Cake
Eric Kim
562 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
562
1 hour, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake
Ali Slagle
784 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
784
20 minutes, plus 2 hours’ freezing
or to save this recipe.
Easy
Texas Sheet Cake
Genevieve Ko
1285 ratings with an average rating of 4 out of 5 stars
1,285
45 minutes, plus cooling
or to save this recipe.
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